


Where The Heart Is

by RayeoftheSunshine



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, FFxivWrite, FFxivWrite2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26697868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayeoftheSunshine/pseuds/RayeoftheSunshine
Summary: Moonflower took a leap to follow her heart. Because of it, she stood by his side while he waited. For the ffxivwrite challenge day 19, where the heart is.
Relationships: G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 1





	Where The Heart Is

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another AU, this time where Moonflower never fell in love with Nagamasa, because he didn't exist. Instead, the wol's name is Leo.

It was time to go. He’d made his decision and explained himself. Now it was time to say one last goodbye, and shut the doors to the Crystal Tower. “Well, now I must rest,” he declared. “Recalling so much has put me in the mood for sleep. Farewell, my friends. I eagerly await a future born of your courage and the ancients’ wish.”

Then, he steeled himself and turned away. He would seal the doors and then he would find a place to rest for the next however long it took for someone to open the way to the tower again. G’raha was so lost in thought that he didn’t realize someone leapt in after him until it was too late, and a familiar body crashed into him from behind. The two of them tumbled down to the floor just as the seal activated. 

“What?!” he squawked, struggling to get to his feet. “Moonflower! How could you?!”

His friend—no, he had to be honest, he had fallen in love with her during their adventure together, and she had only just revealed her own feelings—his _love_ sat up and held his hands. “You are not going to the future without me,” she declared. “Leo can be our guiding star. After all, he was always leading the way when he mentored me. The world only needs one Warrior of Light, and he is the best they can ask for.”

G’raha still wasn’t sure what to think. “Are you certain you understand what you have chosen?” After all, she had so much ahead of her. “I can reopen the doors enough for you to leave.”

Moonflower shook her head. “No. I know what decision I have made. It may _seem_ like a spur of the moment leap—although, I didn’t _mean_ to leap in after you like that, I really only meant to walk in after you—but I have been thinking about what I want for my life since I met you.” She ran her fingers along her braids now, something she did when she was thinking. “I wanted to go adventuring because I wanted to help people, and I’d like to think I’ve done that, and that perhaps I could continue doing it in the future. But the _one_ thing I’ve wanted since I was a child was to find love.”

She stopped fiddling with her hair and looked him in the eye. “I found love with you.”

That simple, powerful statement settled over him like a blanket. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Am I really worth sacrificing all you’ve ever known?” he asked in a whisper. She was going to overwhelm him like this.

“Yes. I hadn’t exactly wanted to go _this_ quickly, but the situation rather forced my hand.” She let out a nervous giggle, like she knew how it looked. “I had _planned_ to visit you, invite you on some of our travels, and eventually, maybe…” Her voice trailed off, and she blushed.

G’raha also blushed, but he held out his hands to her and smiled when she took them. “All right, perhaps this is a bit unorthodox,” he agreed, and started walking. He didn’t know where they were going, but he had a feeling a nice, safe spot would be nearby. “But I have to admit… leaving you behind… I didn’t want to do that. So I am pleased you have decided to come along with me to the future.”

“I came prepared, too!” she said merrily, and patted her bag. “I packed everything just last night, when you were acting all strange after we escaped the World of Darkness. I had a feeling you were going to do something, so… I thought to prepare, just in case.”

“You really _do_ know me well.” He squeezed her hand and felt his heart skip a beat. She truly _hadn’t_ foolishly leapt into this decision like he initially thought. “Very well, if you really think you will not regret it… Let’s go to sleep.”

They went to sleep, curled together, and were blissfully unaware of what happened around them. Then, two hundred years later, they were awoken to discover the world in ruins. Moonflower’s hand clung to his as they stepped out of the tower to take it in. This was not the future they had hoped for, the future he had chosen to close the tower for. This was a disaster, indeed, a great calamity. 

“G’raha,” she barely breathed, and he knew what she was saying.  _How can we live like this? What will we do?_

“We can undo this. We can save him, and save everyone. Together.”

This time, he didn’t even think about leaving without her. She had every right to try saving her friends, and he would not deny it to her. Moonflower even accepted binding to the tower without complaint when it became apparent that they would need more time. While his blood would be required to control the tower, it would still accept her sacrifice. 

His right arm, his shoulders, his collarbone, his neck, and part of his left cheek were all turned into crystal. She, on the other hand, lost her right leg, and the crystal curled around her body in a spiral before turning half her face, including one of her eyes. The crystal eye could still see, but it had an odd green glow to it that most people would have found unnerving if they hadn’t both covered themselves. He was given the title Crystal Exarch and she the title Crystal Seeress, although they spoke their names when they were alone in the tower.

They waited. They built the Crystarium. In the beginning, Moonflower led the battle against the sin eaters alongside the Oracle of Light, but as time passed, she stayed closer and closer to the tower, as did he. One day, he found her in their favorite spot, holding an old childhood toy of hers in her lap while she stared off into the distance.

“Seeress?” he asked, sitting beside her.

“Exarch.” Moonflower fingered the worn stuffed cat’s ear, and he could see how her mouth trembled.

“What troubles you?” 

“I want my old body back,” she wept, dropping the toy and crying into her hands.

The words stabbed him and he took a sharp intake of breath. She… she regretted it after all. She wished she hadn’t come with him. Before he could retreat, words came tumbling out of his mouth. “What do you mean?” 

“We have been bonded all these years, married for all intents and purposes, and we still have no children! The crystal rendered me childless!”

“So… you do not regret coming?”

The question made her stop, and she looked up. He could see her crystal eye peering out at him in confusion. “W-what? No! Of course not. I love you, and you have my heart. I just… I’ve prayed for children for years, but now… Well, we might as well give up.”

The relief that washed over him was almost palpable, but he felt a great deal of sympathy for her. He pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, “Oh, Moonflower, I’m sorry. But we can still have children… I have heard there are some orphans from the latest sin eater rampage…” 

She lifted her head and they gazed at one another. Hope burst from her voice as she said, “Could we really?”

He nodded, and together they found little Lyna, an infant viis. From then on they raised her, loved her, and she was their beloved child. And still, they waited. She stood at his side when he tried summoning their friend, and comforted all her friends when they landed in Norvrandt instead. It hurt her to have to pretend they weren’t already friends, that she hadn’t loved them and watched over them from afar for years, but there was nothing they could say. Their lips were sealed.

At last, Leo arrived. Their plans were finally being set in motion, and once again, their hands clasped together as they watched their hero take off across Norvrandt, valiantly saving lives and defeating Lightwardens. They shared worried glances as Leo began showing signs of illness and corruption by the Light, for it meant that their time was coming soon.

“It’s time,” G’raha told her as they stared up at the mountain. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes. Wherever you walk, I will go with you.”

As they walked in tandem, their eyes lay only on Leo, writhing on the ground as the last Lightwarden was too much for him. “The combined power of every Lightwarden is too terrible a burden for any one soul to bear,” said the Exarch.

“And so we shall relieve you of it,” intoned the Seeress. Together they erected a barrier and Moonflower began channeling the Light away from Leo. Her own blessing from Hydaelyn allowed her to withstand much of the Lightwardens’ power. They had chosen to never use it before now because they did not want to tip their hand to the Ascians, but she was thought to be unusually lucky in battles against the sin eaters. Her visions granted by the Echo and that luck was how she got her title.

The others protested, but they had to focus. They were going to save their friend, even if it killed them. _Because_ it would kill them. The Light ripped off Moonflower’s veil and forced his hood off his face, shocking everyone present. Even Leo’s cries of pain were silenced for a brief moment.

“Moonflower! G’raha Tia!” he shouted.

Their eyes widened. He remembered them? Like this? When they looked almost nothing like before? G’raha’s hair had faded and the tips turned white, while Moonflower’s hair had also faded and was threaded with silver. The decades they had spent planning in secret, leading the Crystarium, and fighting for survival had turned their youthful optimism into aged wisdom.

G’raha spoke first. “Thank you for fighting for this world. For believing. Fare you well, my friend—my inspiration.”

“Thank you, Leo. For being brave. For giving us your life. Now it is our turn to give you ours. Goodbye, my dearest mentor, my hero.” Moonflower smiled and then grabbed hold of G’raha. They were about to leave, to disappear into the night. Their plans would be fulfilled, at long last, and the fate of two shards would be saved.

Fate took a sharp right turn and instead, their hero had to save them one more time. Leo came to their rescue and snatched them from Hades’ jaws, defeating Emet-Selch and bringing night at last to Norvrandt. They celebrated and laughed and could not stop until long past dawn. Perhaps it was better this way, for they would be able to see their people lose themselves to joy.

Weeks later, he found her at their favorite spot again. This time, they could feel the breeze freely on their faces, and they did not have to be alone in the tower to meet eyes. He sat down next to her, and she automatically rested her head on his shoulder. “We will find another way to send them back,” she promised. “We will find another way.”

“Perhaps… perhaps it will be our turn to go home.” He couldn’t help but be hopeful. Even if it was an impossible dream, he wanted to believe in it. 

“Wouldn’t that be a dream come true?” Moonflower slid her hand into his and kissed his fingers. “We could go home… Live without secrets… We could finally have a proper wedding ceremony! And I could _see_ properly again, and you and I could travel together, too. And… maybe…”

He knew what else she wanted to say. But after all this time, she didn’t think she could say it. “Yes, and maybe we could have our own children too. I know Lyna might like to have more family, even if she may never see them.”

“G’raha, I do not want our little girl to think we don’t love her anymore!”

He chuckled. “She’s not so little anymore, you know. In fact, she’s quite outgrown us.”

She elbowed him. “You know what I mean. I know what I want, but I could not bear it if she thought we didn’t want her. If she thought we were replacing her once we were capable of it.”

He shook his head. “I know she wouldn’t. I’ve talked to her about it before. It was actually when she was younger, after she asked us when she was getting a baby sister, and after we had that adoption talk.”

Moonflower choked. “What? That was when she was four years old, G’raha!”

The Exarch shrugged. “I reminded her of it over the years. I don’t think now that she’s stopped asking for siblings, she has forgotten. Of course we can ask her again, assuming we are so lucky as to be able to go home…”

She let out a sigh. He was right. They didn’t _know_ they could go home. That uncertainty hung over them the next few months as they worked on a way to save the Scions. The tentative hope, the dream to go home fueled them as their bodies broke down further. The crystal stole his other arm, and her other eye.

Elidibus stole G’raha’s blood and the tower responded to the great number of summonings he called. It affected the Exarch much swifter than it did the Seeress, due to his blood, but she, too, succumbed to the effects. Leo was left to defeat Elidibus alone, to carry their friends home alone.

As they lay there, trying to think through the pain, while Leo scrambled to do something to save them, G’raha gasped out, “If I were to tell you that this isn’t the end—that we would meet again—would you believe me?”

Leo blinked back tears and nodded. His golden hair shone in the light of the crystal. “Yes, I’ll believe you one more time.”

Moonflower grasped hold of his sleeve. “Leo—Leo… good night. Thank you.”

They left crystal statues at the top of the Crystal Tower, their hands entwined and their staves held in front of them. It was quiet and peaceful up there, and they were together. Lyna visited them and slowly, people began leaving things near them, mostly plants to let them see something beautiful.

When their eyes opened after their souls returned to the past selves, their hearts leapt. Then they broke into joyous laughter and hugged each other tighter. “We’re home!” they cheered, and once they got themselves into a seated position, pulled Leo into a grateful embrace. “Thank you, Leo, thank you!”

**Author's Note:**

> As I mentioned in chapter one of Meetings, a former friend of mine and I used to play ffxiv together. Her character's name was Leo at the time I played the Crystal Tower quests, so I decided to bring him back for this.
> 
> I struggled to think of a name for Moonflower. In Japanese, the Exarch is called something that is translated as the "crystal lord," so I thought to do something similar. But I couldn't find any title meaning "lady" that sounded right, and using Crystal Lady just didn't feel... very powerful. Also, imagining someone saying "Lady!" just wasn't working in my head. But "Seeress!" on the other hand, yes. I can see that. So I chose it.
> 
> Moonflower leaping in after G'raha is what she wants to do when he says goodbye, and here, she followed through with her wish. It was absolutely a foolish thing to do. But sometimes you do stupid things when you're in love. Also, I imagine that her eyes as the Crystal Seeress are like Kida's from Atlantis when she is transformed. 
> 
> Well, I'll be seeing you with day 28. Only three more days of this challenge!


End file.
